Thursday, 24 November 2011

Tomorrow I'm going to see Ólöf Arnalds, a performer I know very little about apart she is from Iceland and has been a touring member of Múm since 2003. I heard her sing a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'I'm On Fire' on Marc Riley's BBC6 Music show a few weeks back and booked a ticket to see her on a bit of a whim. The show is at the St. Pancras Old Church which is another unknown to me even though I work just around the corner from there.

ANYWAY, I found this video of Ólöf Arnalds singing an old song called 'Swansea town'. I'm not a 100% sure who sang the original but the thought of an Icelander singing about Swansea did make me smile. Part of my family is from Swansea which as the song would suggest is by the sea and used to be a major shipping port back in the day. If you ever go there, make sure you try a Joe's ice cream, I grew up on the stuff and my mum even more so. It's the best.

Thursday, 17 November 2011

What a crazy amazing fella. A John Maus performance is a bit like when someone is at that point when they've just become mad but they haven't yet turned into the hulk with subtle Ian Curtis undertones mixed with a club MC who keeps saying muffled incomprehensible words over the music.

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Anyone who's grown up in a small town in the middle of nowhere can probably relate to the sentiment behind this song's lyrics. If you haven't yet heard FM Belfast's incredibly contagious 'Underwear' then you're in for a treat. Check out this video and watch for some of the guys near the end who take the song quite literally. All good fun.

Monday, 14 November 2011

It's Rough Trade's number 2 album of 2011 and will most certainly be appearing on my 2011 list should I make one.

Feast your ears on the chilled out and outrageously slinky Nicolas Jaar's 'Keep Me There' taken from his latest album 'space is only noise'.

I'm appreciating the relaxed tone but if I'm completely honest, I only really fall for this song properly at about 3min 23 when the horns kick in. I'm such a sucker for new instruments being introduced towards the end of songs (think Metronomy :Some Written).

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

'Keep Pushing On' is from John Maus's 2011 album We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves. I recommend. John will be playing a free instore at Rough Trade East in London on November 16th at 1pm. Definitely a date for the diary.

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Monday, 7 November 2011

Low are back in the UK in December and I have two tickets to see them. This isn't a competition or a give away, I am actually going to see them and I might take someone else or lie across two seats, either way, I'm going to be there.

I can remember the time they toured the UK and the closest they got to London was Oxford. I pondered driving out there for the evening but decided against it. Silly me, what was I thinking? This time I shall drive to Brighton and see Low. If it snows then I will ski to see Low. You get the idea. I'm super excited, this will be the second time I'll have seen them this year. Since I'm currently self employed this is the equivalent of my Christmas party and what a cool Christmas party it shall be!